009 – John Gay Discusses Threats to Nutritional Supplements Coming Out of Washington

In this episode I will discuss the threats coming out of Washington. There are currently at least two threats to nutritional freedoms. The first is the FDA’s proposed New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) draft regulation. This is a new guidance being considered by FDA and could cause many supplements to be removed from the marketplace. Not for safety reasons but rather for costly and burdensome regulation. FDA has full authority to act against dangerous or harmful supplements.

There is also the threat posed under the Durbin Bill in the Senate. The Durbin Bill is initially aimed at adulterated products but has the potential to sweep up many other products in its wide net. There is debate as to how serious this bill is, so it is better to err on the side of caution and make sure that your legislators know that you oppose this bill. Every once in a while, we have to let our legislators know how important our supplements and our nutritional freedoms are.

John Gay, CAE, is the executive director and CEO of the Natural Products Association, which represents over 1,900 members accounting for over 10,000 retail, manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution locations of natural products, including foods, dietary supplements, and health/beauty aids.